Prime mover governing mechanism



April 10, 1945.- B. WALES 293739621 PRIME MOVER GOVERNING MECHANISM Filed Dec. 13, 1943 Driven from Turbine Shaf-t.

Inventor; Lawrence B, Waie's,

His Attohney.

Aprifi w, 1945; 1 B, W LES 2,373,621

PRIME MOVER GOVERNING MECHANISM Filed Dec. 13, 1943 Driven from Turbine Shaft.

Inventbmy Lawrence B. Wales His Attorney.

Patented Apr. 10, 1945 v UNITED- STATES PATENT OF PRIME. MOVERZGIOVEENING:MEEHANISM;

Lawrence B. tales, Marblelieadjy Mass. assignmto General Electric Company; acorpora'tioniof New York ApplicatibnxDhcember 13, 1941i,v SeriakNmfiMfllL (or. ran-P42)? 7: Claims.

ranged to. operate one at a time through seriesconnectedpi'lot valve means for controlling a servomotor; I'n arrangements of. thi kind it. is

desirable to know at any time which. of the several governors. is' in active control; especially in case the mechanism includes separate. means for controllingor' adjusting the governors from some remote point. If at any time the operator knows which of the governor i'sin active control he. can readily select the proper manual control. means to take over or'adjust the control of' the prime mover. The object of my invention is. to. provide an improved construction and arrangement of prime mover control mechanisms. of the type above specifiedwhich is simple in construction and effective in. operation, permitting the operator. at any time manually to adjust the proper control element to vary the operationv of the mechanism. This is accomplished in accordance with my'invention by the provision of'anindicating or signaling device responsive to pressure changes between two series-connected pilot vafes.

For a betterunderstan'ding o'f whatIibeli'eve to be novel and my invention, attention is directed tothe" following description and" the claims appended thereto in connection with the accompanying' drawing.

The single figure of the drawing illustratesa fluid actuated control mechanism embodying, my invention applied to the control of 'an elastic fluid turbine.

- The arrangement comprises an elastic fluid turbinelu'having; an inlet valve H for controlling thefl'o'w of elastic fluid thereto. Ihth'e present example the prime mover or elastic. fluidturbine is controlled by a mechanismfor moving the inlet valve H. in response to changes of either of two operating conditions, namely, the speed; or the exhaust pressure. of the turbine. To this-endthe mechanism includes a hydraulic motor [2 having a piston l'3with a stem l4' and biased downward by a spring l5. The hydraulic fluid conducted to the hydraulic motor I2 is controlled by means of two pilot val've assemblies f6. and connected. in

series by a conduit. l8. The. first pilotvalvefllfif is controlled by a first governor, in. the. present instancea speedgovernor l 9,.andl the second pilot valve;- lrll is controlled bya second: governor,; in theapresent: instancaaa baclr pressure governor 211.

The first pilot-valve l6 has a. casing; 21!; with. a bushing 2'2: slidably' disposed therein and valve heads 22%;. connected to the: governor; ma ron-convtrolling. an inletport: 25in and" a drain port: Zfii re:- spectively" formed: in the: bushing; 22:. The. motor I2? is connectedlto a: supply on delivery port'oli the valve. 126; The pilot valve III has a casing: 2'1 with a.valve head12 9 fior controlling therflow ofi fluid from: an inlet port 2'9 which may be. connected to. suitable source of: fiuidt such: as oil under pressure; to an: outlet or delivery" port; so cornnected' to the. aforementioned pipe I 8. Valve head 28 also controis thedischarge to atmospher'e of the oil iii-conduit t8 through: port 3lli The pistonstem M ofth hydraulic motor L2 is connected to theright-handend ofa lever 31: having a left-hand and held on a fulcrum 32 and an intermediate point pivotally" connected to the valve- The bushing 22 of" the pilotvalve I6 is connected by' a link 3'3 to an intermediate point of a lever 34 connected at its left handend tothe stem M- and at its right-hand end to an=.ad justable fulcrum 35. This adfj ustable' fulcrum in the present example is in, the' form of a nut 36 connected" tothelever 3t and adiustableverticallyon a threaded rod 3'! axially held on a; support 38.

The adjustable fulcrum with the threaded rod 3l broadly constitutes ameans for manually adjusting the speed-governing mechanism. In actual practice it is customary to make suchadjustment by remote control means not shown, in the form of aremote control motor for rotating'the rodi3'1.

The pilot valve IT has a stem 39 connected pivotall'y to an intermediate point, of a lever 40 which at its left-hand end is connected to the upper. end of the servomotor stem I'd and at its right hand end is connected to th upper end of. a rod. 41. of'the pressure governor 2U.

The governor zllhasa casing. With a bellows 43 disposed in the casing and forming therewith apressure chamber connected a pipe 45" to only one of the governors is in active control while the other is inactive. In order to indicate to the operator which of the governors is in active control, indicating or signaling means 5| are provided responsive to pressure changes in the conduit I8.- The signaling means comprises a casing 52 with a bellows 53 therein forming a pressure chamber 54 connected by a' pipe 55 to the conduit". The bellows 53 is biased upward by a spring 56 against the pressure in the conduit 54. The bellows is connected by a stem 51 to a contactor 58 cooperatively associated with contacts 59 forming part of an electric circuit including a signaling lamp 68 and wires 6| for connecting the lamp in series with the contacts 59 to an electric source.

In the position shown the speed governor is in active control, valve heads 23, 24 controlled by the speed governor I9 are in line-to-line position with and cover the ports 25, 26 respectively, the back pressure governor 29 is out of control, that is, made inactive by adjusting fulcrum 59 so that lever 48 compresses spring 46 and forces bellows 43 down against exhaust steam pressure carrying the pilot valve 28 downward so that port 39 is uncovered. In this position the fluid pressure in the conduit I8 is the same as in the inlet 29 of the pilot valve II. In other words, full fiuid pressure is supplied to the conduit I8 as if the second valve I! were not present at all. The spring 56 of the signaling device 5| is adjusted so that with full fluid pressure in the conduit I8 the bellows 53 is forced downward into open position of the contacts 59, thereby giving indication by means of signalling lamp 60 that pilot I1 and pressure governor 28 are not in active control.

Upon increase in turbine speed due to decrease in load demand the Weights of the speed governor I9 are forced outward, thus moving the valve heads 23, 24 downward and permitting discharge of fluid under pressure from the servomotor through the drain port 26 of the pilot valve IS. This causes downward movement of the piston I3 by action of the spring I5, resulting in closing movement of the turbine valve II. Downward movement of the piston I3 with the stem I4 simultaneously causes follow-up movement of bushing 22 with regard to the pilot valve [6. The lever 34 is turned counterclockwise about the fulcrum 35 whereby the bushing 22 is moved downward into line-in-line position with the valve heads 23, 24, whereupon the discharge of liquid from cylinder I2 through port ceases and-the piston I3 comes to rest.

Upon downward movement of the stem I4 of the servomotor I2 the lever 49 is also turned counterclockwise about its right-hand end, thus causing downward movement of the valve head 28 of the pilot valve I? and consequently further opening of the port of the latter. This additional opening movement of the port 39, however,

does not affect the operation of the mechanism. Upon decrease in speed the speed governor I9 moves the valve head 23 upward, permitting the flow of fluid under pressure from the inlet 29 through the pilot valve II, the conduit I8, through the pilot valve I8, into the hydraulic motor I2, thus causing upward movement of the piston I3 and opening movement of the valve II. Upward movement of the stem I4 causes follow-up move- :ment of the lever 34, moving the bushing 22 upward into line-in-line position with the valve heads 23, 24. Simultaneously, the lever 49 is turned clockwise about its right-hand end, causing upward movement of the valve head 28 of the pilot valve I'I, thus bringing the valve head 28 closer to its line-in-line position. Movement of the valve 28 again does not affect operation of the mechanism as long as the valve head 28 is out of line-in-line position and permits the supply of full fluid pressure from the inlet 29 to the conduit I8.

Upon further decrease in speed the operation just described will continue until the piston 13 reaches an upper end position in which the valve I I is fully open. Should thereupon the speed further decrease, the valve head 23 is moved upward. Such movement, however, does not affect the servomotor which is already in fully open position. The pressure in the servomotor is then the full line pressure, that is, the same as the pressure in the inlet 29 of the pilot valve II. The latter is adjusted so that with the piston I3 of the servomotor in its upper end position the pilot valve head 28 is about below its line-inline position. In this instance, with both pilot valves I1 and I6 in out-oi-line position, neither governor is in active control. Active control then may be assumed by the speed governor upon an increase in speed and by the pressure governor upon an increase in back or exhaust pressure. An increase in back pressure causes upward movement of the rod 4| by action of the device 20 and counterclockwise turning movement of the lever 48 about its left-hand end, thus bringing the valve head 28 into line-in-line position with the port 38. Once valve head 28 is in linein-line position with its port, the back pressure may be said to be in active control and the speed governor is out of control. With full pressure from the line 29 cut off from the conduit I8 by the valve head 28, the pressure in the conduit I8 becomes the same as that in the servomotor I2.

Let us assume that at the moment the back pressure governor assumes control by closing port 39, the valve heads 23, 24 are in line-in-line position. In this position some of the fluid from the servomotor will slowly-leak through the clearance between the valve head 24 and the bushing 22 of the pilot valve I5 and its drain port 26, thus causing slow downward movement of the piston I3, resulting in closing movement of the valve II and, what is more important, causing by the follow-up lever 34 downward movement of the bushing 22 of the valve Iii'whereby the valve head 23 uncovers the port 25, permitting free flow of fluid between the conduit I8 and the servomotor I2 so that the pressure in conduit I8 (and pressure switch 5|) falls to the lower value prevailing in pilot valve I6 and servomotor I2.

As pointed out above, with the pilot valve I6 in out-of-line position and the pilot valve II in line-in-line position closing port 39, the latter, more particularly the back pressure governor connected to it, is in active control of the turbine. Under such condition an increase in back pressure causes upward movement of the valve head 28, thus uncovering the lower end of the port 39 and permitting fluid to be drained from the servomotor I2 through the pilot valve I6, the port 38, to the lower end of the casing of the pilot valve IT. This causes downward movement of the piston I3 and closing movement of the valve II. Simultaneously, downward movement of the piston I3 through the follow-up lever 48 causes downward movement of the valve head 28, returning the latter into its line-in-line position. At the same time downward movement of the stem I4 causes counterclockwise downward movement of the lever 34, resulting in downward movement of the bushing 22 and further opening of the port 25. This, however, has no effect upon the remainder of the mechanism once'the port 25 is already in partial opening position permitting substantially unrestricted flow of fluid between the conduit l8 and the servomotor l2.

Decrease in back pressure causes downward movement of the pilot valve head 28 and the flow of fluid under pressure from the inlet 29 through the pilot valve H, the conduit iii, the pilot valve l5, into the servomotor l2, resulting in upward movement of the piston l3 and opening movement of the valve I I.

During active control by the back pressure governor the pilot valve head 28 is normally in line-.

in-line position closing port 30 and, as pointed out above, the pressure in the conduit 18 is the same as in the servomotor l2 and of a value such that the spring 56 of the indicating device expands the bellows, forcing it upward to close the contacts 59 by the contactor 58. This resultsin closing of the circuit for the lamp 60 causing operation of the lamp. Thus, during back pressure control the lamp 60 is lighted whereas during speed governor control the lamp 60 is extinguished.

The adjustable fulcrums 35 and 50 permit at any time adjustment of the speed governor and back pressure governor respectively to vary the operation of the particular governor and also whenever desired to transfer operation from one governor to the other.

Having described the method of operation of my invention, together with the apparatus which I now believe to represent the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is only .illustrative and that the invention may be carried out by other means.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Governing mechanism comprising a servomotor, a plurality of pilot valves for controlling the flow of operating fluid to the motor, separate governors responsive to changes of different operating conditions under the control of the mechanism, each governor controlling-one of the pilot valves, and means including a pressure responsive device connected to the pilot valve for indicating which of the several governors is in active control. I a

2. Prime mover governing mechanism compris 'ing a servomotor, a plurality of pilot, valves for controlling the flow of operatingfluid to the motor, separate governors responsive to'changes of different operating conditionsof a prime mover, each governor being connected to control one of the pilot valves, and signaling means responsive to the fluid pressure between the pilot valves for control from one sure changes and connected between two'pilot valves for indicating transfer of active control between the governors connected to such pilot valves.v

4. Prime mover governing mechanism comprising a servomotor, a first pilot valve having an inlet port-for receiving fluid under pressure and a supply port connected to the servomotor, a first governor for actuating the first pilot valve in response to changes of an operating condition of aprime mover, a second pilot valve having an inlet port for receiving fluid under pressure and a supplyport, a conduit between the supply port of the second pilot valve and the inlet port of.

the first pilot valve, 9. second governor for actuating the second pilot valve in response to changes of another operating condition of such prime mover, and means connected to said conduit for indicating at any time which of the two governors is in active control.

5. Prime mover governing mechanism comprising a servomotor, a first pilot valve having an inlet port for receiving fluid under pressure and a supply port connected to the servomotor, a first governor for actuating the first pilot valve, a second pilot valve having an inlet port for receiving fluid under pressure and a supply port, a conduit between the supply port of the second pilot valve and the inlet port of the first'pilot valve, a second governor for actuating the second pilot va1ve,'and means including a pressure responsive device connected to said conduit and an electric signaling means cooperatively associated with the pressure responsive device for indicating which of the two governors is in active control.

6. Prime mover governing mechanism comprising a servomotor, a first and a second pilot valve, a conduit connecting the pilot valves in series to control the flow of fluid to the servomotor, a speed governor for actuating the first pilot valve, another governor for actuating the second pilot valve, lever means connecting the pilot valves to the servomotor, the other governor being normally inoperative while the speed governor is in active control and vice-versa, and means connected to said conduit and responsive to the fluid pressure therein for automatically indicating transfer of control between the governors.

7. Prime mover governing mechanism comprising a servomotor, a first and a second pilot valve connected in series to control the flow of fluid to the servomotor, a speed governor for actuating the first pilot valve, another governor for actuating the second pilot valve, lever means connecting the pilot valves to the hydraulic motor, the other governor being normally inoperative while the speedgovernor is in active control and vice-versa, and means for automatically indicating transfer of control between the governors, said means including a pressure responsive device connected between the pilot valves and signaling means cooperatively associated with the pressure responsive device.

LAWRENCE B. WALES. 

